1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electric scooter, and in particular to an electric scooter with a fuel cell engine assembly.
2. The Related Art
Vehicles powered by fossil fuels are the most commonly used transportation means. However, the fossil fuel engine has severe disadvantages, such as air pollution and noise. In addition, the fossil fuel engine has a low efficiency in converting the fuel into useful power to the vehicle. Thus, a lot of projects are devoted to develop electrically driven vehicles for replacement of the fossil fuel driven vehicles. One of the most well-known electrically driven vehicles is xe2x80x9celectric scootersxe2x80x9d.
Conventionally, the electric scooters are powered by storage batteries, such as lead-acid battery. The development of such conventional electricity storage has continued for more than ten years, yet the performance of the conventional storage battery as a power source for electric scooter is not satisfactory to the general consumers. Thus, fuel cell batteries using hydrogen as fuel are thus developed as a more effective substitute for the conventional storage batteries.
Fuel cells are a power source that generates electricity by electro-chemical reaction between the hydrogen fuel and oxygen. Since the electricity is generated by xe2x80x9cburningxe2x80x9d hydrogen, the fuel cells give no pollution and have an excellent efficiency for energy conversion. In addition, the fuel cells have a long-lasting service life and high energy density as compared to the conventional storage batteries. Thus, the fuel cells are suitable for powering the electric scooters. A number of fuel cell system are available in the markets, among which the so-called PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is the most industrially valuable due to its low operation temperature, quick start up and high energy density.
Besides severe requirement for the performance of the power source, the design of electric scooters also requires to make full use of the space inside the electric scooter in order to get the best overall performance of the electric scooter. The conventional designs of electric scooters simply position hydrogen storage canisters and/or other components below a footstep portion, not pay serious attention to weight balance problem caused by the power storage related components. As a consequence, the overall performance of the electric scooter is adversely affected due to safety concern caused by the unbalanced weight.
Thus, it is desired to have a more efficient arrangement of the fuel cell related components on an electric scooter for eliminating or at least alleviating the aforementioned problems.
Thus, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an electric scooter equipped with a fuel cell engine assembly for powering the electrical motor of the electric scooter. The fuel cell engine assembly mainly includes a fuel cell stack and a number of hydrogen storage canisters. In addition, a blower and a humidifier mounted inside a scooter frame of the scooter in order to enhance the performance of the electric scooter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electric scooter powered by a fuel cell based power assembly of which related components are arranged inside a scooter frame of scooter in a weight-balanced manner so as to enhance driving safety and moving smoothness of the scooter.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an electric scooter powered by a fuel cell engine assembly comprising metal hydride hydrogen storage canisters for safe and efficient storage of hydrogen, the canisters being readily mounted to and dismounted from a scooter frame of the electric scooter.
To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an electric scooter comprising a scooter frame having a rear cover inside which a fuel cell stack is mounted in an inclined manner and a center cover connected to the rear cover by a footstep section. A blower is arranged inside the footstep section for causing an air flow through the fuel cell stack. A humidifier is also arranged inside the footstep section for maintaining a proper humidity level for the fuel cell stack. A front cover is mounted to a front side of the scooter frame and forms an interior space with the center cover. A hydrogen canister holder is mounted in the interior space and located substantially above the front wheel of the scooter. The hydrogen canister holder retains a number of hydrogen storage canisters in an inclined manner for supply of hydrogen to the fuel cell stack. The canisters are arranged in pair on opposite sides of a centerline of the scooter frame whereby balance of weight can be achieved. A heat dissipation system comprising a coolant container containing a coolant and a heat exchanger through which the coolant flows is arranged inside the front cover. A pump drives the coolant through the fuel cell stack for cooling purposes. The coolant that is heated by the fuel cell stack is driven through the hydrogen canister holder to maintain the hydrogen storage canisters at a proper operation temperature.